After my breakfast, I quickly clean up, put on my uniform, and hurry to the stable. I make it with time to spare and am able to enjoy another cup of tea before formation This is followed by my verifying that there are no changes today to our standing orders or special task that we need the members of the regiment to perform. Goddesses what a pain, now I have to decide what gets passed on during the morning formations. Before this job, I never thought about who made these calls. Such is life, I guess. At least I am no longer in the duty rotation. I think to myself.

After formation, I am back in my office and I hear a knock. I look up and I see the Sergeant Major standing there. “Ma’am, Lieutenant Bridge and two ghouls are here. They say they have a meeting with you.”

I nod my head, “Ok, take them to the planning room and tell them I will be right with them.”

He acknowledges the order. I finish the bit of paperwork I was working on and then I go to the Colonel’s office and ask her, “Ma’am, Lieutenant Bridge, High Grade and another Ghoul are here for the morning meeting we discussed.”

I see her sigh, “Thanks XO, I will be with you in a second.”

As I wait, I hear Ginger and the others arrive outside in the main area of the HQ. The Colonel looks up, sighs, and continues what she was doing.

She signs a couple of more forms and places them in her out basket. Then she joins me as we go to the planning room. She nods to the team as we pass them and tells Ginger, “I will talk to you after our meeting.”

As we walk in, I see Bailey and High, but I am stunned when I recognize the second ghoul as the one I had talked to at my farm.

I then hear him let out that loud and unusual braying laugh that mules are so known for when he sees the shocked expression on my face. The Colonel simply turns her head to me and asks, “I presume you have already met?”

I simply nod my head and I hear Johnny say, “You could say that. Lieutenant Colonel, if I had known it was you, I was going to meet, I coulda saved both of us time and myself a bit of a walk.”

I finally overcome my surprise and tell him, “Ya know you are right. We could have, but where would the fun be in that.”

I hear him laugh again. “Yes Ma’am, your right. I never got to see the inside of a stable before. Kinda interesting. Your folks really survived in this thing?”

“Yes, they did Lieutenant. Yes, they did.” Star Burst tells him.

I nod and then add, “Those in Harness survived in one somewhat similar. But since it was not meant for so many, well you can imagine, they were more of an open bay barracks. At least until they dug enough to make more room. But then had to figure out what to do with the tailings until they could open up again.”

I watch him nod. “That makes sense. Also, would explain the social changes your husband told me about on our walk this way.”

I smile and ask, “So did you two have a good conversation?”

He smiles. “Yep, and I have to say, I had a hard time stopping laughing when he told me about y'alls arrangement with that Milo back home. I mean, I never heard of a Jenny getting pregnant before. I did not think it was possible.”

I feel myself blush at this and I see the Colonel raise an eyebrow, then she changes the subject back to business. She smiles at Johnny and tells him, “Lieutenant we can talk personal business after our meeting if you’d like, but how about telling a bit about where you have been for the last bit, and why you are showing up now?”

At this point, I notice that High Grade seems kind of irritated with the direction the conversation has taken, but he bites his tongue. He nods his head to Johnny who says, “Ok Colonel, what do you want to know? You are the one who invited me.”

“First, Lieutenant, I would like to know where you have been for all these years.” Star Burst tells him.

“Ma’am, we have been at what we called Site Paddock. We were finishing construction on it when Manesville was hit. The main entrance was open still when the Balefire bomb landed. The blast collapsed that exit. That is when those of us who survived, if you can call this surviving, became this way.”

“Lieutenant, you keep saying we, who are the we that you keep mentioning.”

“Colonel, there are ten of us left. Almost two hundred of us were in there working when the bombs fell. Only about fifty of us ended up like this, we have had several go what High Grade here calls feral. Currently, only ten of us still know who we are.”

I see the Colonel put her hoof over her muzzle in horror at the thought of what he has gone through. Then she quietly says, “Lieutenant Cake, I am very sorry about what you have had to endure.”

I see him shrug, “Ma’am, the last time I came out was just over a century ago. I made it to Manesville and had to run for my existence as the locals were killing every ghoul they came across. Only one or two tried talking to us first. The one I came across, well, she was a nice mare and told me to get and run back to where I came from.”

This time I ask, “So Lieutenant, what made you decide to come out this time?”

“We decided it was time when Xerxes said we had a battlemage and a bunch of colts and fillies at the back entrance.”

I see the Colonel look confused and she says, “Battlemage? We don’t have any battlemages.”

I blush as I say, “Moon Lily ma’am, I just found out they were exploring there a couple of weeks ago. Seems one of our colts got injured but she took care of him after eliminating the ferals.”

I see High nod and Johnny looks slightly baffled as the Colonel says, “Oh, ok that explains it,” nonchalantly.

Johnny looks at me and asks, “Who or what is a Moon Lily?”

I smile as I tell him, “She is one of the fillies in my family.”

He looks kind of surprised and asks, “Just how old is this filly?”

I think briefly and then tell him, “Just about eight years old now.”

I see him shaking his head and see High Grade smiling off to the side at his surprise. Then High says, “If it were not for her age she would have been recruited already for the Battlemages in the old days. Lieutenant Bridge and a few others have told me about what she did to a zebra assassin that had entered the Lieutenant Colonel’s HQ several years back. The Zed kicked her sister after his cloak was pulled off. From what I heard it was not pretty.”

I shudder involuntarily at the memory, then I say, “Ok Lieutenant how can we help you then?”

He grins at me and says, “Well ma’am, it seems you have a regular military and government going now. So, part of the mission of Site Paddock was to store things to rebuild Equestria. Ma’am, me and the others, we don’t want to see it go to waste, especially if we all end up going feral.”

Now I am curious and ask, “What type of things and how do you want us to help you?”

“Ma’am, I am asking for your help in eliminating those you call feral,” as he says this, I see a mournful look cross over his face. “Ma’am, they were our comrades in arms. In some cases, they were lovers and closer than family. We, we just can’t do it, and after those kids, we can’t risk innocents getting in there.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I then hear the Colonel ask, “The Repair Ponies?”

I slowly nod my head. “Yeah, they are waiting outside anyways. Do you want me to go get them ma’am?”

She nods her head again and I get up to bring my kids and their friends in. The only one missing from the team is Choo Choo, who according to Epona is spending time with her sisters and then working with the Followers for the next bit of time.

I step out into the hallway and I see Ginger stand up, “Yes Ma?”

“It looks like we may have a job for you to do, all of you follow me.”

I look at them all dressed in matching black barding and ball caps. I even notice a pair of reflective sunglasses hanging off of Sunny’s pocket, as they get up and follow me into the meeting room.

When Johnny sees them, I see him gulp and he says, “Ma’am, did you plan on eliminating me when I got here?”

I shake my head, “No lieutenant that was not a consideration. Meet my oldest two daughters and their friends, they call themselves the repair ponies.”

I see him grin, “Ok, I’ll bite, what do they fix?”

Tater grins back at him, “Sir, we fix situations. Twinkle Hoofs over there was listening already, so we know about your issues with those who went feral. Sir, you have my condolences as I understand what it is like to have your world ripped away and destroyed.”

I watch as High Grade simply shakes his head slowly and the Colonel raises an eyebrow. Johnny on the other hoof looks at him and takes on a bitter tone of voice as he asks, “You think you do, but how can someone your age and condition understand?”

Epona steps between them and quietly asks, “Sir, your word of honor as an officer and a GentleJack that what I tell you will go no further?”

He scoffs slightly at first, then he keeps looking at her and finally he asks, “You really mean it?”

She nods her head, “Yes sir, I do.”

He raises his right forehoof and says, “On my honor young mare.”

I see her look at Tater, then she sighs and tells him, “Sir, Tater and I came through a portal from a different time line with many others just over eight years ago. We were running for our lives. I watched my mother get killed and the weapon I carry on missions used to be hers. Tater was with me. The zony and his mare over there. They were with the Lieutenant Colonel during what we call the expedition and that ended at a place we call Serenity Valley. They were 9 and 10 years old. They were not just there; they were combat scouts.”

I see him give me a dirty look, “You used foal warriors, even we never did that.”

Over the years I have heard that enough that while it stings, I have learned to answer, “And look what those of back then left us from your actions.” When I say this, he looks like I have kicked him. I stop and then ask, “So do you want our help or not?”

I see him cringe slightly and he finally replies, “Yes ma’am, and I am sorry about my reaction. It was just a surprise.”

High Grade then puts a hoof on his shoulder and tells him, “Don’t worry, those of us in Dead Quite will help those of you from Site Paddock adjust if you want.”

I see Johnny nod his head. He turns to look at Ginger and the team and he asks her, “Ma’am, I know it aint fair and a stallion should be willing to shot his own dog if it needs to be done, but will you help us?”

Ginger looks at the others and I am very surprised when Xochitl answers, “Sir, we will do it. First off, they are not dogs. They were ponies you once cared about and you still see them that way. With that said, we will do what we must, but we will do it as quickly and with as much respect as we can.”

Ginger nods her head and tells him, “Like Xochitl has said, we understand, all of us have experience with ghouls both normal and feral. We have also all lost those we care about and understand what it is like to lose a comrade who you have fought alongside.”

I see Lieutenant Cake look down and he nods his head. If ghouls could shed tears, I am sure he would have right then. He looks up and asks, “So when do you want to do this?”

Ginger looks at him and answers, “Whenever you are ready. We will need you to evacuate all the normal ghouls first though. That way when we go in we do not have to hesitate trying to decide who is hostile and not.”

Johnny nods his head and I see High Grade pat him on his back as he says, “I understand Lieutenant. I really do.”

“I know you do High, but it is still not easy. Besides she is one of them that has gone feral.”

I see a look of sadness come over High’s face as he says, “I remember her, she was a real sweetheart. I am so sorry Johnny.”

He nods his head and I hear him sigh, “You know High, she never gave up hoping we could get married someday. All the way till she finally turned. I never deserved such a mare, but Goddesses I wish she wouldn’t of been taken away from me like that.”

I see High Grade nod his head in a sympathetic tone he tells him, “I understand, all us ghouls have lost at least one person we loved and cared about that way it seems.”

“But High, she really deserved so much better than this.”

“Johnny, we all did. Goddess, the Lieutenant Colonel over there did, even if she is still a breather. She too was turned away. I can not imagine how that has to feel.”

“I noticed, but I was not going to say anything to her about it,” Johnny tells him as the rest of us listen to them. We have all been through things like this. Goddess, I remember too many times. I think the others feel the same way as we all wait until they are ready before we begin to talk again.

Finally Ginger says, “Lieutenant, would three days be enough time for you to be able to get your people out of there?”

He nods his head and then asks, “But where do we go until you are finished?”

Before anyone can say anything Star Burst says, “Please be our guest here in the stable. You are all military ponies and stayed at your post for this long. That speaks volumes of how you feel about performing your duty. Perhaps those of you who would like could even join the Dead Quite Militia company.”

I see High Grade smile at that and he says, “Maybe you could move over there if you like.”

“Or we could start another Ghoul settlement once the place is cleaned up?” Johnny asks.

I see High Grade think about it and he says, “Just could be. But understand every settlement in this region has a militia unit.”

I see the mule ghoul mulling this over and he says, “Sounds fair enough.”

I then make a judgment call and tell them, “Johnny when you and your people are ready, have them assemble at the family cemetery across from my family’s farmhouse. That way we will be sure to be ready.”

He nods his head and then he asks the Colonel, “Ma’am, seeing you consider us to still be on duty, would we be able to get back pay?”

I see her just about choke on her cup of coffee she has just taken a sip of when he asks this. Bailey Bridge, with a smirk on his muzzle, then tells him, “Sorry, but bits are worthless nowadays and I do not think anyone knows how to convert them.”

Johnny has a funny expression on his face as he then asks, “So just what do yall use for money then?”

I see High Grade laugh, then smiling he tells him, “Would ya believe bottle caps.”

I see a look of disbelief come over the old mule’s face as she says, “No really, what do you use?”

By this time, I am having to fight my laughter as both Choo Choo and Side Track have both told me how much this threw them off at first. Then I hear Ginger say, “Speaking of Caps, we need to discuss our fee. Epona, would you join me on this?”

Three days later it is my day off and I am coming out of the house when I see a group of ghouls coming up from the woods on the back 40. They are being led by Johnny and High Grade. Their heads are down and I cannot miss the expressions of sorrow and shame on their faces.

They skirt around the farmyard and I watch as they go over to the family cemetery and I see them go over to the corner of it that has the graves of those killed before the final day as well as the remains that were found on the farm and buried there.

As I head over that way High Grade stops me and says, “Ma’am, can you give them a minute. They are paying respects to a friend of theirs and his family who lived there.”

I nod my head and tell him, “Yeah sure. Is there anything I can do?”

He shakes his head and tells me, “No, not right now. I need to get back down there so my troops and I can clean up the remains. I just don’t know where to put them.”

I sigh and I call for Sumac. She sticks her head out of the kitchen door and asks, “Yes dear?”

“Sumac, I need you to come here for a minute.”

I see her visible discomfort with the ghouls but she tries her best to hide it. Once she is close enough, she realizes I want to be discreet and asks quietly, “Yes Mollygirl, what do you need me for?”

“Sumac, High Grade, and I were talking, he was wondering where they should inter the remains of the feral ghouls from inside the facility in the back 40 acres.”

I see her shake her head, “Mollygirl, why not just bury them there. There are enough old trees left that if used properly should make a nice cemetery fence for them.”

This time High Grade asks, “Ma’am, does this mean we have permission to do so?”

I see a bit of sadness on her face as she says, “Yes, of course. They have been there this long. I cannot imagine them not being there now. To me, it would have been like being told I could not have my daughter and granddaughter buried on this land. I will not do that to others.”

“Thank you very much, Sumac. I deeply appreciate it.”

She nods her head then points a hoof at the other ghouls gathered around the graves there. She then asks, “What are they doing?”

High Grade tells her, “Visiting the graves of an old war buddy and his family. If whoever recovered this farm interred the cattle they found here over there, they did us all a big favor.”

Sumac looks surprised and says, “Well it was my mother’s family who recovered it and she said they did have to bury the family who had once lived here. But how could burying a family of cows have been a favor to you?”

“Ma’am, the son of that family served with us in No Mares land back during the war. He saved several of us, including myself. That mule over there who is having a hard time standing up. That bull was his best friend in the world and he felt like he lost a brother that day. Our battalion actually chipped in to have his remains shipped home instead of the normal burial behind the lines.”

Soon they have all come over to the fence along the road. High Grade, Sumac, and I go over to them. High Grade tells them, “Sumac and the Colonel here have given permission to create a cemetery for our comrades down there.”

They all quietly tell us thank you. Then Johnny asks, “Ma’am, have you always lived here?”

I see Sumac smile as she answers, “Most of my life. For a while, I didn’t. That was until my now deceased husband and I could save enough up to buy out my parents. Why?”

He smiles and tells her, “Well I have a bit of a connection with the family that used to live here. When we would go on leave, I would come here with Sweet Corn, as travel to Harness was restricted by then.” He pauses as if he is thinking about a memory. Then he asks, “Colonel, when you were putting on the addition there, did you tear out the old walls?”

I shake my head, “Not fully, we only removed the outer siding and what we needed to make doorways for the expansion, why?”

He smiles at us, “When you pulled that siding off, did yall find anything?”

I slowly nod my head yes, “Yeah, why?”

He grins, “Was it a letter to you and a present to someone named Sutures?”

Both Sumac and I nod our heads and I have to ask, “How did you know about that?”

He grins and says, “Well I’ll be, Pinkie was right when she told me to put that package there. I never would have imagined it.”

When he says this Sumac and I are stunned. But High Grade asks, “Pinkie? Pinkie Who?”

Johnny gives what I am now finding to be a familiar smile, as he says, “Pinkamena Diane Pie, you know the old Ministry Mare.”

I see the surprised expression that comes on High’s face as he cautiously asks, “How did you know her?”

Johnny tells him, “My cousins Pound and Pumpkin knew her since they were foals, and then they worked for her as Pinks once she became the Ministry Mare for the Ministry of Morale.”

I see High is still stunned and he slowly asks, “Is that how come Xerxes was never arrested?”

I see Johnny shrug as he replies, “That was probably most of it, but not all of it. High, you seen how good an officer he is. Dang, if he wasn’t a zebra, he could have had his own battalion at least.”

I watch High nod his head, “Yeah, he is good,” he then looks over at the zebra Ghoul who is behind all of the others and asks, “Do you think you might be interested in joining our Militia?”

I see him consider it and he asks High, “Is it a full-time pseudo militia or one that is only called when needed?”

I see High smile as he says, “Only when needed. My troops are only here today because I asked them to help with what must be done. But as you can see, the breathers here did not ask us automatically to take care of the problem, they sent in a team to do it.”

One of the others shakes his head and says, “Yeah, I see that team of roughnecks they sent in. real mercenary types. I bet they could not wait to get in there to kill ghouls.”

I see the looks on their faces and I am about to reply when High Grade tells them, “No, they are not like that. I have known most of them for about 6 years now. Those kids have already been through the mill, but while they know what they are doing, they actually are decent to us ghouls.”

Then Sumac says, “Also, those kids are either our family’s foals or their friends who we have known since they were young.”

As we are talking, I see my love Sutures come out of the house as she prepares to head to her office in White Cloud.

One of the ghouls asks, “Who's she?”

I smile and tell him, “She is one of my wives, her name is Sutures.”

He looks at her prosthetic and asks, “What happened to you?”

She shrugs and tells him calmly, but with a slight tremor, “Grenade got me before I could get around a trench corner at the Valley.”

He nods his head, “Seen that a few times, at least your medic was able to save you.”

She nods and tells him, “Yeah, we were lucky to have another medic besides me with our company.”

I see a bit of surprise come over his face and he asks, “Ma’am, you were a combat medic?”

She nods her head and then says, “Yes, why?”

He then says, “I had a few friends who were. It was always rough on them.”

She nods and then gives me a brief kiss on the cheek and a hug to both me and Sumac, then she says, “I best get to the office, I will see you later.”

As she gets ready to leave, I hear the same ghoul say, “Ma’am if you’re a medic, maybe you should go with High Grade. Ma’am I know those operators are pros, but I did not see a medic with them.”

She stops and says, to him, “Sir, you may be surprised but that alicorn that leads them, well she was once a combat medic too.”

This time Johnny speaks up, “Ma’am, they did not have an alicorn with them. I would have recognized a princess,” then he pauses and asks, “Besides, how bad were things that a princess became a combat medic?”

As he asks, I see Sutures eyes go wide and she spins and runs back into the house as she goes, she yells, “Mollygirl, get Xavier and both of your kits, we're going in, they need a medic.”

As I am turning to run to the house, I hear Sumac and High Grade begin to explain about the artificially created alicorns and I hear some of them trying to cry as I come back out the door kitted out and High Grade tells them the Princesses are dead.

Right after I come out of the house I run over to the barn and call out “Xavier, grab your kit, the kids are in trouble.”

I see his head pop up from under the plow and he spits out a wrench, “What’s going on Colonel?”

“Xavier they just went underground without a medic to clear out the ghouls from the underground bunker system under the back 40.”

“Colonel, I am sure Choo can handle it for them, she always does.” he says reassuringly.

I shake my head, “That’s it, Xavier, she isn’t with them. We’re taking Sutures in.”

I hear him swear in Zebracan as he finishes getting up and starts to run for the house yelling,

“Persimmon, get my kit ready NOW!”

She comes running out of the house carrying his militia kit in her mouth and his zebra rifle hanging by its strap with it. When he is close enough, she holds his rifle and helps him put on his web gear and helmet. Once he has it on, he takes the rifle and slings it across his back, kisses her, and tells her, “Pray to the goddesses, we are going to need it I fear.”

I see the fear in her eyes as she kisses him quickly on the cheek and tells him, “Go, I will be waiting.”

He nods his head and the three of us begin to run for the cave entrance. As we run, we are joined by High Grade and Johnny Cake. Johnny then yells to us, “I will help you get in there, But I can’t stay.”

As we run, I tell him, “I understand, thanks for any help you can give us.”

As we enter the woods, I begin to see High Grade's Militia members gathered near the entrance of the cave. I can see that the fallen tree has been removed already and several of the troopers have travois with them to remove the fallen ghouls. Once we are close enough, we slow to a trot then a walk so we can try and regain our breath and not be winded when we go inside.

Once we get to the tunnel entrance itself, Johnny stops me and tells us, “Let me lead the way.”

We all are quiet and slowly follow him down the tunnel in the dark by the light of my PipBuck and Sutures’s horn. When we get to the door, he taps in the password on the keyboard next to it. He turns and tells me “If you ever need to use it, the password is 23rdECEB4ever.”

I smile at that and nod my head. “Hopefully Lieutenant I won’t need it, but thank you, just in case I do.”

He nods his head and tells me, “Also Colonel, there are maps located at major intersections inside as well as to the left on the wall, just inside the main entrance. And for goddess sake do not use any explosives in the cryogenic storage area. That liquid nitrogen will freeze you quick. “

I then look at the worried expression on his face and asks, “Lieutenant, do you want to just take us in there? Xavier or I will lead the way with you next to us.”

I see him hesitate and then he says in a sad tone of voice, “Yeah, I guess I better. I don’t want to, but it would be safer this way.”

As he finally hits the enter key, I hear the doors creak as they slide open. They are not nearly as thick as the stable door and I begin to understand what happened.

Xavier steps into the lead walking on his hind leg cradling his rifle with the muzzle angled down so he can raise it quickly If needed. I am right behind him with the Death Bunny in the ready position of my battlesaddle. Behind me, I hear Sutures rack a shell into her shotgun as she follows us. As we come to the first intersection, I see the remains of two ghouls. Both have been covered by sheets. But I cannot help but notice the black ocher that has seeped onto the floor next to them.

Johnny then says, “This way ma’am,” as he points towards a room that has a sign saying security office over it.

Xavier cautiously opens the door, pops his head inside. Then he turns to us and says, “Clear,” after which we follow him inside.

Once inside the security office, I see a doorway with a sign labeled Confinement. Directly in front of the door is a desk, behind and to the left of the desk is a rack of weapons that are locked up. To the right side, I see several video screens. Some of them are flickering. One of them keeps changing the image of the room it is in. Another is inside a large storage room and I watch as the camera view pans back and forth. As we watch, I see a large ghoul running towards a group of ponies and they begin to shoot at it. Shortly after that, I see the body fall and slide across the floor carried by its momentum.

It seems the kids are doing ok so far. Then I hear Johnny say, “Dammit, I told them to avoid the warehouse until they had cleared the rest of the facility.”

At first, I am confused as to what the problem may be, then I begin to hear the howling growls of the ferals as most of them begin to make their way towards the warehouse, drawn by the noise there.

I see Sunny on the camera begin to fly upwards near the high ceiling of the warehouse and I see him call something on the radio to his other team members. Then I see him begin to shoot.

Soon I see them all advancing through the warehouse, using the racks of supplies as walls to limit the directions that the ferals can attack from. I am paying attention to their fire discipline as this lets me know how steady they or if they are being pressed.

The camera on the screen I am watching suddenly has a flash across it as it pans back towards Sunny. I see he is looking through his scope and lining up a shot just as a pegasus ghoul strikes him from behind and grabs him by the wing. I see him scream and watch in horror as they both fall toward the ground. I hear Sutures behind me scream, “Sunny!” and then we see a bright blast of light and I see what looks to be a small black unicorn standing above him with its horn lit. I hear Johnny say, “Hold on Doc, we all go together or I think you will be in big trouble.”

I turn and begin to head toward the door and I see on the screen another flash of light and watch as three charging ghouls suddenly fly backward away from them. Then I am off at a gallop behind the others.

As we run down the hallways, I notice several doors to private quarters are open. I see the bodies of several ferals laying there covered like the previous ones by the door, but we do not slow down. Next, we are running through the mess hall. I see more bodies covered. I also notice several tables were torn and thrown around the room. I then see some fresh blood on the floor that makes me worry and run even harder.

As we run forward, I can hear the gunfire echoing down the corridors. The closer we get the louder it gets. Soon we can begin to hear them yelling to each other but we cannot understand what they are saying yet. As we enter the main warehouse, I turn on my Eyes Forward Sparkle and see the kids marked in yellow, but surrounded by red marks. Then I realize there is one more pony there than there should be. I yell to Johnny, “I thought you said they only had the team and not Choo Choo with them.”

He yells back to me, “I only saw the ones who were at the meeting yesterday. No more.”

Suddenly we are in the open and running between the rows of racks. Then I suddenly see Sutures twist her shotgun to point above me and she begins to shoot. I look up and I see two more pegasus ghouls diving at us. I drop and roll onto my back and as I slide, I begin to spray full auto at them. I see the first one, then the other drop to the ground and move no more.

Then I roll back over and am climbing up when I see Xavier open fire on two more ghouls on the ground running towards us. I see one of them begin to leap at me and as I try to bring the Death Bunny around, I realize I am not going to make it in time and I feel myself stiffen to receive the blow. Suddenly I see a bright flash of light and the ghoul simply glows and disappears. I turn my head and I see a wounded Moon Lily standing there with a determined expression on her face as her horn lights again. I notice her shield glimmer around her and Sunny as she turns back and returns to applying a bandage on him. Amongst the din of the fight, I then hear Xochitl yell that he has been bit. In response, both mother and daughter call out, "On the way!" I glimpse Sutures pass by me and I watch as her daughter uses her TK to move Sunny with her as she heads to Xochitl.

I am back on my hoofs by then and I begin to escort Sutures to the others. As we move, I hear Johnny asks, “I presume that is a Moon Lily?”

I nod my head yes and tell him, “Yes and she is in so much trouble for being here instead of at school.”

As we get closer to the others, I put myself between them and Johnny and tell them, “I have lieutenant Cake from yesterday with me, do not shoot him.”

“Ma, what are you doing down here?” I hear Epona call out.

Sutures then says, “Because we found out you were coming into here without a medic, now let me look at those wounds.”

As she begins to work, I see Moon Lily doing the same off to the side. I notice as the fight continues and more of the ghouls come at us that Moon occasionally stops what she is doing and puts up a shield while the others fight. As she works, I see Sutures glance over at Moon Lily as she works on Cowlick and she barely shakes her head but twitches her ear.

I then check my EFS again and notice only a few ferals are left, and they seem to be drifting away from us. I begin to relax some and turn my EFS back off as it is very distracting and only gives a bearing and not a range for something. As Sutures finishes working on Xochitl I see her get up and begin to check Sunny. She notices that his right wing is broken and she tells him “Sunny, I am going to have to set your wing. It is going to hurt very bad when I do it, but after that, I will give you a healing potion and you should be good in a couple of days.”

He nods his head, “Ok Cousin Sutures do what you must.” He tells her.

I see her horn begin to glow and I watch as she magically manipulates his wing and he begins to scream in pain. I see Moon Lily move closer to them as she watches what her mother is doing very closely. While it only takes a couple of minutes, I soon hear the ferals who have already departed growling as they return towards us.

I flip my EFS back on briefly and see three coming from one direction while two more are each coming from a different direction towards us. I quickly cycle a reload for Duty and prepare to defend us. They all charge at one time. I watch as Moon moves her hoof as done by our preachers at the cattle services. I see her lips move and then I watch as two of them simply cease being. The other three are quickly brought down by the rest of us. But as the second ghoul disappears, I notice a flash of light. After the fighting is done, I see she has gained her Cutie Mark.

She barely even reacts as instead I see her pull a sheet out of her saddlebag and she goes over to the closest ghoul and covers it, saying a brief prayer and again moving her hoof in the rhythmic pattern. As she is doing this, I see the look on Johnny’s face as he quietly asks, “Colonel what is she saying?”

I look at him sadly and I tell him, “She is giving them the blessing of the dead in the cattle tongue and asking Sweet Cream to judge them favorably.”

When she is done doing this with all of the ghouls' remains, she comes back over to us and says, “Ma, could you check my leg? I think I got a bit earlier.”

As Sutures goes over to examine her, we all see her flank now has a solar eclipse with a phoenix flying wings fully extended in front of it. Moon shows no real joy, but instead, she exhibits simple pride in her new mark as her mothers, siblings and their friends congratulate her on them.

Finally, after all the wounds are treated and I have called on my PipBuck for the Militia troops to begin the cleanup Johnny Cake looks at us and tells us, “I know I told you all about the supplies that we had housed in here; now I want to show you what the biggest reason for it was. Follow me.”

As we follow him down a hallway we had not been through before I notice one sign that says Reactor Room, Keep Out. Then I see one that says Cryogenic storage facility. Restricted Area, Authorized Personnel Only. Deadly Force Authorized. This makes me raise an eyebrow.

He punches in a password again and smiles as he tells me, “I will write it down in a bit for you.”

We follow him through the door and we see over twenty large tanks, all are connected with hoses. I see several warning placards for liquid nitrogen and freeze damage warnings to unprotected tissue.

As I am looking around, I ask, “Ok, Lieutenant, so what is all of this for?”

He smiles and tells me, “Ma’am, these are the real treasures here. What you are seeing are storage containers for frozen embryos. Part of the deal to purchase this land from Sweet Corn’s family was that the Equestrian government was required to store frozen embryos from not just ponies, but cattle. From what the Captain was telling me, y'all are having problems with genetic diversity for the cattle. Well, this should really help with that.”

Frankly, I am stunned and I am trying to wrap my head around what we have here. I simply smile as I realize I cannot wait to go to services this week and tell them what we have found. As tired and sore as I feel I find myself smiling and feeling happily at peace I look at the others and I tell them, “Good job all, now let’s head into the White Cloud inn, you all have earned a drink and I am buying.”

I see Sutures give me a look and I tell her, “Don’t worry love, Moon Lily and I will be having a Sparkle Cola Rad. She deserves a treat too.”

As we walk toward the entrance door that we came in from, we can see the clean-up teams coming in and passing by us. Then I hear. Ginger asks Johnny “how come your people let my little sister come in too?”

He looks at her funny and tells her, "Ma’am, we never saw her. We only saw your team. So I have no idea how she got here.”

In the slightly flickering light of a fluorescent bulb, I see Moon Lily blushing and she says, “Sorry, I used my invisibility spell.”

I am really amazed at this, and I hear Sutures give an exasperated sigh as she asks, “Young Mare, where did you learn that.”

She looks down and blushes as she says, “Granny Choo. She said it was good for scouting and hiding in an emergency.”

I see my wife shake her head and I hear her say, “Goddesses I really need to talk to that mare.” Right after this, we step out of the cave as a group and into the light.

Dear DJ Pon3,

Me and my few sane comrades have finally emerged from our isolation after 200 years. We have experienced so much change in two days and lost so much more. Could you please play To the Grave for me and my fellow ghouls?

Thank you, very much

Johnny Cakes, formally of the 23^rd Equestrian Combat Engineers Battalion

Thank you to those who have inspired me to continue building in the universe of FoE. I also want to thank all of my readers who have stuck with me so far.

For those who wish to read some more of the backstory of Lieutenant Cake and a few of the others with him you can read my short story Before the Bombs: Jack of All Trades which is posted as part of the anthology Fallout Equestria: Alphabet Soup at: https://www.fimfiction.net/story/476359/7/fallout-equestria-alphabet-soup/before-the-bombs-jack-of-all-trades-by-trooper

For those who wish to listen to this chapter's dedication song, the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQDY7n-uh4o